You Know You’re a “Seasoned” Military Spouse When…

I would never consider myself old. I don’t even think I technically qualify as middle-aged (don’t correct me if I am wrong there). But, in military spouse years, I am considered to be “seasoned,” part of the older generation of spouses who have been around a while, and who say things like “I remember when…” in everyday conversation.

I’m not even sure when it happened–when I crossed the line from being a new spouse to being a seasoned spouse. All I know is that one day, I walked into the commissary and the new recruits in the frozen food isle suddenly looked more like my son than they looked like me. They were babies. And me?

I was seasoned.

You know you’re a seasoned military spouse when:

You’re the only one at the FRG meeting who has been through a deployment before the pre-Skype era

You say things like “I remember when we had to wait weeks for a letter”

You think the young service members in the food court look too young to enlist

You remember all the different versions of TRICARE/Pharmacy coverage, and have an opinion of which version was best

You had the opportunity to be stationed in Turkey (or some other base that is now closed to families…or is now just plain closed. Curse you, BRAC list!)

You no longer have to ask what all the acronyms mean

You seek out the retired spouses at the spouses club events to chat about what separation is like

Your closet has 4 different versions of retired uniforms hanging in the back

The youngest service member in the unit was born after you graduated from high school

Your friends’ kids are now joining the military

You start to count down the days to retirement

Being seasoned isn’t a bad thing (and it doesn’t make you better than anyone else), but it is something that will happen to all of us if you stick around military life long enough.

What makes you feel like a “seasoned” military spouse? Tell us in the comments!